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Friday, March 6, 2009

Hey, Kevin here. Well I figured I might as well start showing my homebrew Space Marine chapter, The Knights of Orion. I have a good 5,000 points of these guys and they're growing, though i have yet to complete painting a whole squad (many are close, but still need detailing and all that crap!). Here is the fluff behind my chapter and some pictures of things I actually have completed for the army, enjoy!The Knights of Orion

The Knights of Orion are a mysterious chapter, first appearing in Imperial records when they attacked a Chaos Strike Cruiser headed toward the Cadian gate. The Knights of Orion, according to the accounts of a small Imperial escort passing through the system, "Appeared out of nowhere. . . as if they were spawns from the warp". Indeed, after an Inquisitor and a large retinue of Grey Knights were dispatched to deal with mysterious chapter did the Imperium discover that this Space Marine force was lost and considered dead in the warp shortly after the Second Founding. No records remained of the Knights of Orion's history, only what could be recalled from memory.

Their Chapter Master, Arkaedin, told the Inquisitor that in about 500.M31 the Knights of Orion were dispatched to pursue an Iron Warrior Strike Cruiser. The marines followed them into the warp, which was set as a trap which they could not escape. They lost 80% of their force, including most of their Librarians who desperately tried to keep the warp spawns from entering their cruiser. Fighting ensued for what seemed like years until, finally, the Techmarines and Librarians that remained were able to construct a nearly impenetrable, highly modified Geller field. By that time, however, the damage was catastrophic. Not only did nearly every marine die, but all the Chapter's records and history were burned or destroyed in the fighting. This would not have ordinarily been a problem, but events soon occurred that would change the chapter forever.

Not able to find a safe passage from the warp to the material realm (without sacrificing the modified Geller field), the Knights boldly decided to wage war on nearby Demon worlds, in an attempt to gain a small foothold in the warp. In order to do this, however, each marine had to be trained to gaze upon the warp without delving into madness. Also, they had to have psychic shields to prevent the warp from penetrating their weak minds (with regard to psychic capability). Eventually such a device was created and implemented into the helmets of each marine; yet their minds still had to be trained properly. It was a long, arduous process that involved wiping all emotional memory from the marines. This included their homeworlds, their chapter history, and their primarch. All that remained was the knowledge of being a warrior, the Emperor and the Imperium for which they fought. Only one marine in the chapter retained the history, and his name was Dorian, Epistolary of the Knights of Orion.

During a battle on a Demon world, the Knights would push forward, only to be pushed back further than they started. This world was home to a Bloodthirster, and if it died the planet was in a perfect defensive position if the Imperium would ever invade the warp in massed force. Thus, seeing an opportunity arise, Dorian used all his psychic might to manipulate the guardians of Bloodthirster Gal'thek's palace into destroying it themselves. The Librarian strained and strained to get this done and succeeded, but the Bloodthirster recognized psychic warfare when it was used. Enraged that some mere mortal from the material realm would attempt to use magic on his planet, the prophet of Khorne emerged from his palace and sought out the offender. Gal'thek landed in front of the bold psyker and, with a mighty swing of his axe, decapitated him spraying gore vertically and all over the torso of the Bloodthirster. Knowing there was no chance at victory, the Knights of Orion quickly evacuated the planet to their ever growing Strike Cruiser.

Arkaedin, in charge of the Knights since his the original Master, whose name he cannot recall, died when they first entered the warp, decided it was time to try and return to the Imperium they barely remember. It was shortly after this decision that they were able to find an appropriate gate to the material realm and realized it was caused by a Chaos strike cruiser. They decided to raid the ship and destroy as many as they could, after all, they failed their original mission for the Iron Warriors escaped successfully. Ironically, it was an Iron Warrior ship that they now pursued, and this time they would not be denied victory. The 400 Knights (out of the original 2000) raided the ship and killed all 1,700 Iron warrior marines, taking only 18 casualties. The success had everything to do with their surprise attack from the warp. The Iron Warriors had no chance.

So here they were, in an Imperium far changed from the one they barely remembered. A chapter long lost to the annals of history. A chapter that would fight for the Emperor until every last marine lay dying in glory.

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OriginThere are many theories as to the history of the Knights of Orion. The most popular are the Salamanders (since they have many similar traits) and the Ravenguard (for their specialization in stealth and infiltration fighting). The more radical ideas are the Iron Hands (for their superb construction skills) and the Dark Angels (for the numerous Dark Angel iconography). There is another suggestion that they are a successor chapter of the Alpha Legion, but there is little evidence to support this.

Fighting StyleThe Knights of Orion seem to have a perfect knowledge of when to shoot and when to assault. They make use of many melta and flamer weapons as well. In almost all their battles the deploy scouts; the main reason being that they have so few in number that their scouts need to get as much action as possible. The Legion of the Damned also seem to favor the Knights of Orion as in many campaigns this legion can be found dropping to give aid to the Knights in many situations.

The Knights of Orion rarely perform any defense maneuvers as they are a mobile force (such as the Imperial Fists or Black Templars). As such, they embark on missions to annex as much territory for the Imperium as possible.

Chapter SymbolThe Chapter symbol for the Knights of Orion are two crossed swords with a flame in the middle. The Swords represent their nobility in the face of war while the flame is the heat upon which all weaponry is forged, and therefore very important to the chapter and Imperium itself.

Now for some pics. You already see the top of the Rhino, so here's the rest of her:

My Librarian, Venerari:

My scout Sergeant Julius:

And a converted Ironclad (using the Assault on Black Reach dreadnought)